by Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
3/20/2006 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- The CV-22 Osprey simulator was officially welcomed at the 19th Special Operations Squadron with a ceremony earlier this month.
The $21 million simulator is intended to provide refresher and proficiency training to pilots, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Jay, CV-22 simulator program manager.
“We are not delivering a device to a training squadron today, but to the actual operators,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Doug Schuler, assistant program manager for training systems.
The simulator is a secondary motion training device, which allows pilots to feel vibration and motion without the actual structure moving.
The device can put crews in various scenarios such as blowing rain, night snow storms, in-flight refueling and water rescue missions. It is also programmed to display a representation of the runway and surrounding areas of military bases in the southeastern region of the United States.
“When the pilots have to go to other bases for training missions they can familiarize themselves with the area in the simulator before they even get there,” Colonel Jay said.
The CV-22 is designed to land on naval ships, and the simulator allows operators to get some of that training without having to leave the base.
“This is the first time Air Force Special Operations Command has had a simulator at the operational base with the aircraft,” said Col. Paul Harmon, 16th Special Operations Wing vice commander.
“Pilots will still have to actually go out and land on ships, but this allows them more opportunities to train,” Colonel Jay said. “It’s also a lot easier than having to coordinate with the other services to land on their ships.”
Construction for the simulator began in March 2005. It was completed and released to the base in January. It is one of eight that are scheduled to populate the Air Force in the next five to seven years. There are two other CV-22 simulators located at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
The CV-22 aircraft’s mission is long range and infiltration and exfiltration, and can function as a traditional airplane and helicopter. They’re expected to start arriving here this fall.
